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Hedley Finger
Asked: 2019-01-04 00:40:44 +0800 CST

How do you get a *.desktop file to work for a non-repository app?

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I turned the Amazon cloud reader site https://read.amazon.com into a desktop app with nativefier. It works amazingly well as a standalone reader for books that have been downloaded and also automatically downloads books in the cloud when requested.

Instead of launching /home/myname/kindle-web-linux-x64/kindle-web from the console all the time, I tried to make a Kindle-Web desktop file to place in the launcher. My file won't work in two ways:

  1. It won't launch Kindle-Web.
  2. It does not display the Kindle icon on the file when viewed in Nautilus.

The code is below. Can anyone tell me where I went wrong. The icon files are in /home/myname/.local/share/icons/hicolor/<resolution-folders>, and /home/myname/.icons/hicolor/*.

[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Name=Kindle-Web
Comment=Desktop app created from Kindle Cloud Reader page (https://read.amazon.com) by nativefier
Exec=/home/myname/kindle-web-linux-x64/kindle-web
Path=/home/myname/
# StartupNotify=true
# StartupWMClass=kindle-web
Icon=0914_Kindle.0
# Terminal=false
Type=Application
Categories=Publishing;Literature;Documentation;Office;
icons files .desktop syntax location

3 Answers

  1. If running 

    /home/myname/kindle-web-linux-x64/kindle-web

    in Terminal indeed launches the application whereas the .desktop launcher doesn't, then change the Exec line from

    Exec=/home/myname/kindle-web-linux-x64/kindle-web

    to

    Exec=bash -c '/home/myname/kindle-web-linux-x64/kindle-web'
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  2. Google Chrome actually has a feature to make a shortcut on desktop, which on Linux will effectively create a .desktop shortcut.

    Steps to create:

    1. Open https://read.amazon.com in Google Chrome
    2. Click on the Chrome's top right menu
    3. Navigate to More tools → Create a shortcut

    At this point you should have the .desktop file in your home directory, which should launch a single chrome window. You can customize the resulting file if you like.

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  3. I will answer about my experience.

    1. First I recommend, not using "." on icon names. I am not sure why, but I had in past the same problem with a desktop file with an icon called with org.xxx.xxx style, and icon never shown in "Application Menu".

    2. I recommend that your icon have at least 128x128 version.

    3. Call the update-icon-caches 

    update-icon-caches ~/.local/share/icons
    1. Copy your desktop file to ~/.local/share/applications and run the update-desktop-database
    update-desktop-database ~/.local/share/applications

    So now, you should see the app in "Applications Menu" with correct icon displayed

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